Tools to Stay Safe on the Job

On any given day across approximately a quarter million sites across the country, there are 6.5 million construction workers hard at work. Construction workers expose themselves to numerous situations and circumstances each day that put them in harm’s way, so it’s no surprise that the rate for fatal injury falls above the national average. While accidents happen – and there’s often nothing that can be done to prevent them – there are still precautions that can be taken to ensure the safety of your workers should one of these accidents occur. Aside from training your employees in proper practices and procedures, here are a few of the tools you can use on the construction site to help keep yourself and your employees safe from injury.

Helmets

On any given construction site, heavy objects are being moved from one place to another on a nearly constant basis, and many of them are being carried directly over the heads of workers. While a helmet isn’t going to save you from a falling slab of concrete or a malfunctioning piece of construction equipment, it will protect you against the smaller pieces that are more likely to fall and injure you.

Work Boots

Just like you want to protect your head from any overhead falls with a helmet, you want to protect your toes from any objects that may slip from your hands and land on your feet. If you aren’t wearing the right shoes for the job, you could sustain serious injury from just a slip up. It’s important to be wearing durable, reinforced footwear (with a steel toe) to keep yourself safe.

Scaffolding

As construction projects advance, many buildings tend to move vertically into multiple stories to maximize the footprint of the building. This means that there will be times when it is required for the workers to be dozens of feet in the air in order to work on the project. Scaffolding is a great tool that allows your workers to have secure, stable footing at great heights to reduce the risk of fall injury.

Harnesses

If there are construction jobs that require you to work in a precarious location where scaffolding isn’t feasible, making sure that you’re properly harnessed can be the difference between life and death. Make sure you’re complying with proper safety regulations when working in dangerous conditions.